I was thinking of Human Chow but however they decide to market it is fine with me.

Jeanette Isabelle

Human Chow and Bachelor Chow are different things. The first is a derivative of soylent green, and tends to taste a little old.

bingley

Human Chow, Bachelor Chow and Dog Chow are probably all the same thing. Just put the smaller kibbles in a bowl and add milk, coffee, or bourbon to taste.

Sue

There are many, many Americans who have never used a barbecue, have never been camping or hiking, and have absolutely no idea what the simplest hobo stove might look like (or even realize that such a thing exists). Many of them probably haven't even cooked over an open flame on a home stove.

And if they have used a barbecue, they wouldn't have any idea what to do if they ran out of propane or briquets.

I don't know about your folks across the pond, but from the British I've met/known, they've always been able to step up to practically any job where the main requirement is common sense and a bit of handiness.

If WalMart had any sense at all (probably a false hope), they would hold some well-advertised Preparedness Fairs in their parking lots and show all the stuff they carry that would be useful in such a situation. But I won't be holding my breath for that to happen.

Sue

I find it convenient to have both an indoor grill (Coleman 2 burner propane camp stove)for cast iron skillet, or Dutch oven cooking, and a larger outdoor grill ... grilling directly on the grating saves a lot of cleanup when water is limited, and due to the possibility of flare up needs to be done outside... bacon and eggs and bannock are done in the cast iron skillet...

most of my recipes call for 1# of ground beef so I typically freeze 1# packages, but during hurricane season I portion my ground beef into patties, so if necessary I can cook individual portions, and not have to use the whole frozen package

I have (3) 25# propane bottles so I always have 2 filled...if you haven't used an adapter to fill 1# bottles, if you place the empty cylinders in the freezer for a day or so, and invert the 25# tank to fill, you can get more in as liquid

an adapter hose allows you connect other propane appliances

I too will utilize my camping equipment, especially my stoves, along with stocks of canned food, and whatever frozen food is available. The barby is ready,along with a couple of propane tanks.

My situation is relatively simple. I only have about three camp stoves. How does Hiking Jim select among his stable of 115 stoves?

That makes me wonder. If we pull out the camping stoves and grills, surely people will want to use or borrow them for their own cooking, heating up water, etc. What do you do? Loan it out? Offer to cook their food for them? There's also safety concerns as camp cooking requires more caution. And the last thing you want is a neighbor starting a fire with your stove.

Not sure if this is the same scenario, but one of the wal-mart disaster cooking challenges I read about was designed to use only non-perisable goods. That could be a challenge in itself for a number of people who are usually reliant on fresh, refridgerated and frozen.

It might be worthwhile having a couple of Campingaz Bistro Stoves on hand for yourself or your neighbours (fitting the cartridge is the only tricky part);

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000Y854WC/re...ASIN=B000Y854WC

They are pretty cheap and effective costing about $15-20 (including a butane gas cartridge), and they are very easy to operate and control. Only a complete moron would burn down their own house with one.

I am happy to see this kind of stuff but, also a bit disheartened thinking the Canadians/ Red Cross know we are in for some rough times here in North America.

I do honestly hope the demonstration reached some people that may need these skills and/or got them interested in self-sufficiency.